In certain retail environments, it is preferable to demonstrate functionality of a product available for sale prior to the product's purchase by a user. This way, the user is able to get a better understanding of the functionalities and capabilities of the product prior to purchasing, while the product is still in a store, such as on the store shelf. Preferably, the demonstration mode of the product is available while the product is still in its packaging. Such a demonstration of a product's functionality is especially useful for products that require electrical power to operate, such as toys, holiday decorations and the like to entice the purchase thereof. In such products, the demonstration mode is enabled by the user engaging an activation switch that is accessible on or through the product packaging.
Such a demonstration mode of the product is also typically known as a “Try Me” mode and the terms “demonstration” and “Try Me” will be used interchangeably herein. The Try Me mode of the product is distinct from the product's normal operating mode. The term “normal operating mode” refers to operation of the product using the power source required for continuous operation of the product (e.g., AC power in some embodiments and DC power in other embodiments). In the Try Me mode, a subset of the product's normal functionality is demonstrated by limiting either the available functions or the amount of time the functions of the product are enabled. In order to achieve this, a product's manufacturer and/or designer typically selects a portion of the product's overall functionality that is most likely to be appealing to a potential user.
Previously, a product's Try Me mode was implemented in a number of ways. In products that operate on batteries, a selection switch could be embedded into the product, allowing switching between the product's normal and Try Me modes, both powered by the batteries of the product. In this case, a circuit configured to operate the Try Me mode is typically embedded in the product and coupled to the selection switch. The functionality that the manufacturer wishes to demonstrate to the user is programmed into an integrated circuit (“IC”) in the product's operating circuit as a dedicated demonstration mode, which is enabled by the user engaging the activation switch. Generally, such a circuit is part of the product's overall operating circuit.
The selection switch is set to the Try Me mode setting prior to the product being placed into the package. Thus, the batteries that come with the product may be depleted as a result of the operation of the Try Me mode prior to the product being purchased by the user, such as by repeated trying or by the switch inadvertently being depressed during shipping and handling. After the product is purchased, the user is required to move the switch into the normal mode to enable normal operation of the product.
In other products, such as string lights that operate from an external power source, such as alternating current (“AC”), an external Try Me module may be connected to the product to enable a demonstration of the product's functionality. Previously, such external Try Me modules could only be used with products that did not have a master IC controlling the operation of the product. Typically, such an external Try Me module includes one or more batteries, an activation switch and a standard DC jack connector. The DC connector is plugged into the product's power supply jack when the product is presented in its packaging. Thus, the product's standard power supply adapter must come disconnected from the product. When the product is purchased, the purchaser unplugs the DC connector of the external Try Me module and connects a DC connector of the power supply adapter to the product to place the product in its normal operating mode.
Such external Try Me modules suffer from several deficiencies. First, such external Try Me modules could not be used to control products having a master IC controlling operation of the product. Second, products often shift during shipping, resulting in the activation switch of the Try Me module being engaged. Since the Try Me module remains activated while the activation switch is engaged, the batteries of the external Try Me module supplying power to the product are quickly depleted. When the batteries are depleted before the product is displayed in the retail setting, the functionality of the product can no longer be demonstrated to shoppers without opening the package and replacing the batteries or the entire external Try Me module. Third, the requirement to disconnect the DC connector of the Try Me module in order to connect the DC connector of the power adapter is inconvenient and confusing to many users. Fourth, such an external Try Me module may only be used with compatible products that have a DC connector jack for accepting the DC connector of the external Try Me module.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a Try Me module that enables a demonstration mode of a connected product for a predetermined period of time when the activation switch is engaged. It is further desirable that the Try Me module be universally compatible with a plurality of distinct products. Finally, it is desirable to provide an external Try Me module that does not require the user to disconnect the external Try Me module in order to connect a power supply adapter after purchasing the product.